Majungasaurus was a carnivore (meat-eater) that lived in
Madagascar during the
late Cretaceous period,
between about 70 and 65 million years ago.
It was one of the last dinosaurs, and probably became
extinct
during the the
Cretaceous-Tertiary mass
extinction.
Majungasaurus was a large predator which walked on its two hind legs. It probably was about 20 to 23 feet
(6 to 7 meters) long, and weighed over 1 ton. It had short arms, and a wide skull with with a short snout
caped by a single rounded horn.
The only known herbivores at the time in the region were
Sauropods
such as Rapetosaurus, and it is therefore thought that Majungasaurus
must have feed on them. Scientists have suggested that Majungasaurus was adapted to feed on on
Sauropods (which
would have been very powerful animals). Its skull, jaw and teeth suggest that it would have attacked its
prey using a bite and hold attack (similar to the hunting strategy of modern cats),
rather than the strategy probably used by most other
Theropods
of taking many bites (similar to the strategy used by modern dogs and wolves).
Additional evidence that may support this theory is that Majungasaurus, as compared to most
Theropods,
had relatively short and stocky legs, and a low center of gravity.
Majungasaurus is also known to have engaged in cannibalistic behavior
(at the time of writing, the only other dinosaur that has also been suspected of cannibalism is
Coelophysis,
however in the case of Coelophysis,
there is some doubt over it was in fact a cannibal).
The evidence for Majungasaurus being a cannibal is that
fossil
bones of the animal (and as well as
fossil bones of
Sauropods
that lived in the region), have been found showing teeth marks made by other
Majungasaurus.
It is not known however under what circumstances Majungasaurus would have engaged in
cannibalism - it may have actively hunted its own kind, or it may simply have scavenged carcasses of other
Majungasaurus. One possibility is that if two Majungasaurus fought over a killed prey animal, and one was killed during this fight, then it would have scavenged its rival's remains (this type of behavior is found in
some modern animals such as Komodo dragons).
"Majungasaurus" means "Mahajanga lizard". It is named after the Mahajanga province of Madagascar - the reason the name uses an older spelling of the province's name.
Majungasaurus was a member of the Saurischia ("lizard-hipped") order of dinosaurs. What this means, is that although Majungasaurus was not closely related to lizards, it did have similarly shaped pelvic bones.
Majungasaurus was a Theropod - a member of a group of related bipedal dinosaurs that included the ancestors of birds (although Majungasaurus was not itself an ancestor of birds).
Majungasaurus lived between about 70 million years ago and 65 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period.
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